Royalty
by Dark Empress V
Summary: Alternate version of the scene with Cal and the necklace. Watch out kiddies- Violett goes to the Titanic and...oops-where's Rose?


Summary: Alternate version of the scene with Cal and the necklace. Watch out kiddies - Violett goes on the Titanic and… oops, where's Rose? Guess what happens!!!  
  
Disclaimer: Nothing from the movie Titanic belongs to me, to my greatest regret.  
  
I also don't own any of Celine Dion's songs used in this story. If I was making money off writing fanfiction, I would be richer than J.J Astor.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE : So, it's been 90 years… As a tribute to this amazing ship which has influenced the lives of so many people and still, after almost a century, moves our hearts and imagination, I have decided to write this story.  
  
This is about what would happen if Violett (what? I'm as good a character as any;-)…)was in Rose's place when Cal was giving her the necklace. It's very important that after reading the story you read my second Author's Note under the story - some very important stuff there!!!!!!!!(it's in thick letters) I CAN GUARANTEE THAT SOME OF YOU WILL BE INTERESTED!!!!!  
  
(I recommend that you listen "The Portrait" from Back to Titanic CD for perfect atmosphere)  
  
REVIEWS, please, they keep me alive!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
So, prepare yourself, I introduce you :  
  
***ROYALTY***  
  
I always thought that really unusual things happened to anyone but me. Or maybe they didn't happen to anyone at all, only in the movies. I tried to believe it to be otherwise, but my boring life always knew how to put me back into place. I even began to think that nothing special was awaiting me. Until one day…  
  
  
  
Germany, 12th of April 2002, Friday  
  
Again at my aunt's house in Germany.  
  
I sat at the large mahogany desk in the study, my eyes wondering on the shelves, up-to-the-ceiling filled with books. Some of them dating as far back as 18th century.  
  
That was my aunt's hobby - gathering old books and other antiquities - furniture, paintings, vases, you name it.  
  
Maybe that's why I loved to visit her so much - I inherited her passion for the objects from the past. Also her passion for roses, horseriding and unsolved mysteries.  
  
The study was my favourite place in the house - stylish, quiet, relaxing. I always went there with a glass of wine when I had some things to think over, or just wanted to forget all about the world around.  
  
  
  
This evening I needed solitude more than ever - I came over to my aunt's house only for the weekend, explicitly to escape my life back in my country.  
  
I couldn't really say why - everything seemed to be going allright, I just had this importunate feeling again that I was missing something. That I was terribly bored and tired.  
  
So I caught the train and within a couple of hours I was knocking on my aunt's door. I didn't have to explain my reasons for coming. We had a deal that whenever I needed some time off, I was welcome under her almost a hundred year old roof.  
  
I sat in this temple of past and let my mind wonder far away into other dimensions, allowing myself to muse on my favourite subjects. And it eventually came to me - the ever- returning subject I could work over hundreds of times and never got bored with it - Titanic.  
  
I never thought a movie could influence my life the way this one did. I got obsessed when I first saw it, Ok, even before I saw it…  
  
I've been interested in the Titanic cathastrophe since my great- grandmother told me its story when I was ten. She was a young girl then and collected all the information about it, moved by the tragedy. So when I heard that one of Hollywood's most famous directors was making a movie "Titanic", it instantly caught my attention.  
  
And then, after finally seeing the picture, an even greater mania started. Unlike most of my friends and other teenagers in the world, I didn't fall for the great hero, Jack Dawson, but became fascinated by the dark and conflicted character of the abandoned fiance, Caledon Hockley.  
  
I couldn't tell what lured me to him so strongly. Maybe it were those things about him that you never actually saw in the movie, but they floated right under the surface, so that a really sensitive eye could spot them… I always knew there was more to him than met the eye, that he was not just a cold- hearted, callous bastard, or jerk, as some people put it. I couldn't believe that almost nobody, who saw the movie noticed that. I thought about his relationship with Rose and how I would have acted, had I been in her place. To tell the truth, many times I wished to be in her place, by Cal's side.  
  
Can you fall in love with a guy from a movie? And I mean, REALLY fall in love, not just for a season when the movie is popular and not in the actor, who plays his part, but in the actual character from the story?  
  
As rediculous as it may seem, that's what happened to me. And it didn't end in two months. It lasted and lasted and my friends finally learned to accept my mania with a sigh and shrug of their shoulders. Now four years have passed and nothing had changed. I treated him as if he was a real, existing person. I talked to him when I was alone in my room in the evenings, dreamed about him at night, and the thought of him helped me make it through the hardest times of my life. Pretty much as for an unimaginable bastard, huh?  
  
I smiled to myself at those thoughts and took another sip of wine from a crystal glass. It was very late at night and I was getting tired, but still didn't feel like going to bed.  
  
I took an old, beautifully bound book from the shelf and began to flip through the pages. However, at some point my vision got blurry, so that I couldn't make out the letters. My eyelids became very heavy and after a short fight to keep myself awake, I let go and drifted away into the pleasant, warm darkness.  
  
  
  
********  
  
  
  
  
  
I had no idea how long I had been asleep. I awoke slowly, my consciousness coming back to me with some difficulty.  
  
I didn't open my eyes at first, but when I finally did, I quickly closed them again.  
  
I had to still be dreaming. I squeezed my eyelids tightly and then opened them again. Nothing changed.  
  
Instead of sitting at the desk in my aunt's study, I was laying on a large, canopied bed in a completely strange room.  
  
  
  
I quickly sat up in bed and looked around. A little further, on my right was a stylish dressing-table with a richly decorated mirror, the walls were covered with dark wood, a beautiful crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.  
  
I narrowed my eyes in confusion. I knew this place from somewhere…  
  
My hand shot up to my mouth in shock as the realisation dawned on me.  
  
I pinched my arm to ensure I indeed wasn't dreaming. Nothing happened, except for a large bruise on my arm.  
  
I got up and stood in the middle of the room. Looking at the objects around me in stunned disbelief, I finally allowed the unthinkable thought to form itself in my mind - I was in Rose's suite on the Titanic…  
  
  
  
  
  
********  
  
  
  
  
  
Titanic, North Atlantic, 12th of April 1912, Friday  
  
  
  
I walked up to the mirror and looked at my reflection.  
  
A sigh of relief escaped my mouth when I saw that I still had my looks, not Rose's. I wore the gown Rose had worn that evening when she tried to jump off the ship.  
  
My usually straight brown hair was curly and it streamed down my back in tangled cascades. Somehow, I seemed to myself to be prettier here than I had thought I was.  
  
I turned away from the mirror and sat on the bed again, trying to come to terms with what was going on. Trying not to lose my mind, more likely… What was I going to do?  
  
My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door and a woman entered the room. After a moment I recognized that it was Trudy, Rose's maid.  
  
"Oh, I see you have waken up from your nap, miss Violett. Are you feeling better now?"  
  
/'Miss Violett? Helloo! What was going on here?'/  
  
For a moment I sat there speechless, staring at her.  
  
"Miss, is everything allright? Perhaps I should call your fiance?"  
  
"My fiance?" I asked weakly  
  
She gave me a concerned look.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Caledon Hockley. Miss, you are very pale, maybe I should…"  
  
My shock was getting even deeper.  
  
"But he is Rose's fiance…" I started flatly, comprehending less and less with each passing minute. Was I Rose or not? She called me Violett…  
  
"Oh, miss, you really should stop joking like that. You know your mother doesn't like when you want to be called your favourite flower's name. She says it should stay in the past, with your childhood. " - Trudy smiled at me, but later the concerned look came back  
  
"Miss, maybe I shall go and fetch your mother or Mr Hockley? You shouldn't stay alone after that dreadful accident you had today. To think you almost fell off the ship…"  
  
  
  
"No, Trudy, I am allright, really. I was just a little confused from the sleep, that's all."  
  
- I answered and smiled a little. The pieces of the puzzle were finally fitting together. My secret little wish has come true. Only I wasn't Rose, just myself in her place. Even better.  
  
"Miss Violett, your mother sent me to help you take the gown off and prepare for bed. You must be very tired.."  
  
"Oh, yes, thank you Trudy. It's terribly uncomfortable to sleep in the corset" - only in this moment did I realise that I wasn't able to draw a deeper breath because of the metal cage that was clenching my ribs. I was too shocked and surprised before to pay attention to such 'details'. I always wanted to check out how it felt to wear a corset. So now I knew and wasn't eager to repeat the experience.  
  
When Trudy finally released me from the dress, all the undreskirts and that dreadful metal instrument of torture, I felt more like myself.  
  
I put on a white nightgown and, among countless questions whether I needed anything, Trudy left the suite.  
  
I sat at the dressing-table and looked at my reflection, trying to grasp everything that was going on. I was on the Titanic. No, when I thought it, it was more like 'OH, GOD, I'm on the Titaaanic!!!!'. And still couldn't quite believe it.  
  
But, as I was there, I started thinking about the possibilities it opened before me. I could finally make some things right and make some of my dreams actually come true. For heaven's sake, Cal was there!!!  
  
I looked at the items standing on the dressing-table and among them I noticed a golden musical box. I smiled to myself, remembering. Then I lifted the lid and closed my eyes, listening to the soft melody.  
  
I reached for the hair-brush and started brushing my hair, my mind occupied with pleasant thoughts and plans of what I was going to do. A dreamy smile formed on my lips.  
  
I heard a soft knock on the door, and saw Caledon Hockley standing in the entrance.  
  
I had imagined it thousands of times. What would I do in this very moment. When I finally meet the man of my dreams, the one I wanted and missed so much. How I would run to him and finally feel his touch, hug him…  
  
And I… Froze.  
  
I only put the hairbrush away and remained motionless, still staring at my reflection in the mirror. Just like Rose did in the movie.  
  
"I know you've been melancholy. I don't pretend to know why" - I heard his deep, manly voice say the words I knew so well.  
  
And still, I couldn't move. With Him being just a few meters away, I could just sit there like a porcelain doll.  
  
I wasn't in control anymore. Someone else has taken over my body.  
  
Rose… But why, what was going on? Was my wish going to fulfill in the cruelest ways possible - to be in her place, but not be able to change anything?  
  
Cal slowly crossed the distance between us. Then he closed the musical box and sat on the dressing-table few inches away from me, saying:  
  
"I intended to save this till our engagement gala next week, but I thought… tonight"  
  
He opened the jewel case he was holding and I saw the necklace in all its glory. It was so much more beautiful in reality than when I saw it in the movie. The sapphire-blue stone glittered with an infinity of inner reflections. Mesmerizing.  
  
I felt my hand softly lifting and touching the Diamond:  
  
"Good gracious!"  
  
"Perhaps this is a reminder of my feelings for you…"  
  
"Is it a…"  
  
"Diamond? Yes. 56 carats, to be exact. "  
  
He took the necklace out of the case and placed it around my throat.  
  
God, he was so close, I could feel the warmth emanating from his body… I could smell his sensual manly scent - Cologne water mixed with a faint odour of cigars and brandy. Just as I had imagined.  
  
"It was worn by Louis the Sixteenth and they call it Le Coeur De La Mer, the-"  
  
"Heart of the Ocean" - I heard myself finishing with him  
  
He looked at me with true admiration in his eyes. And I couldn't, couldn't move!!!!!  
  
Instead, I said numbly:  
  
"It's overwhelming"  
  
He gazed at the two of us in the mirror.  
  
"Well, it's for royalty. We are royalty, Violett"  
  
The sound of my name in his mouth… It was too much. Burning in the very fires of hell couldn't have been a greater torment than this.  
  
I felt his fingers softly brushing against the skin on my neck and was electrified by the touch. I had to somehow break free from repeating all Rose's moves, I had to regain control over my body…  
  
For God's sake, I wasn't Rose !!! It was me, V i o l e t t, who sat there, and it was my story playing out in that suite on that doomed ship. I tried to gather all my strenth and will, all my love for the man beside me and fight, fight like I had never fought before.  
  
I wasn't going to let destiny, or whatever the higher forces were involved, ruin it for me.  
  
I looked at our reflection in the mirror, my face not revealing any sign of the battle inside.  
  
  
  
The battle I won. I felt the chains break and I was myself once again.  
  
I slowly lifted my hand and put it on his, still fiddling with the necklace and tickling my neck. I softly caressed the back of his hand and turned to look at him.  
  
"Royalty" I repeated softly-  
  
"Yes… You are my king and I am your queen" - I continued and smiled warmly, finally having said the words I have been craving to say for so long.  
  
I looked deeply into his hypnotising, dark eyes. I saw his surprise at the sudden change of my demeanour from cold to tender.  
  
I turned back to look at our reflection, now firmly holding his hand.  
  
He recovered from his surprise and began:  
  
"You know, there's nothing I couldn't give you -"  
  
"Shh…" I softly put my finger to his mouth."I know.. And there is something I want from you just now…"  
  
I lifted my hand and ran my fingers through his thick, ebony black hair. Then I looked at him with all the tenderness and love that I always wanted to give him and … kissed him deeply, demandingly.  
  
He immediately gave the kiss back, so passionately that it took my breath away.  
  
We slowly stood up, I felt his arms wrap around me and I ran my hands across his chest, feeling the warmth under the thin fabric of his shirt. The sensation was so overwhelming that my knees got soft and only his embrace kept me from falling down.  
  
When the kiss broke after a small eternity, we pulled away from each other, and stood for a second in silence, breathing heavily.  
  
"That was… unexpected." He said.  
  
"Why? Can't a girl spontaneously kiss her own fiance ?" - I teased him  
  
"No, it is not what I meant. You… have never done this before" - he looked at me somewhat suspiciously.  
  
"Maybe it's time I started" - I said, smiling  
  
He smiled slightly, too, but I saw that he still didn't know what to think about it. Considering the fact that I had acted just like Rose the whole time before, I could understand his surprise.  
  
I went back to the dressing table and resumed brushing my hair. Cal approached and stood next to me.  
  
"You are different tonight" he said  
  
"Different? How?" I asked, half-expecting the answer he gave me:  
  
"Well…You've been very…distant lately." - I could feel the bitterness in his voice, although he tried to hide it - "Until now"  
  
I didn't know what to say. That I was a girl from the future, who woke up in this bed half an hour ago as a replacement of Rose, his fiancee who despised him?  
  
Not good. I knew that in what he had said, was hidden a question - what was wrong with 'our' relationship. I was pretty sure that Rose had given him a couple hints of how much she disliked him, and the expression she had been "distant" was a huge understatement.  
  
The fact was - I didn't know how their relationship had been before they boarded Titanic, I just knew that it was far from good, and that a large part of it was Cal's fault.  
  
But I didn't have all the issues Rose would have had, and right now they were the last thing that I cared about. I knew for sure that Cal wasn't the ruthless monster Rose thought him to be. And the most important thing I knew was that I just wanted to be with him as me, without the burden of their past.  
  
"I know that I've been… like a stranger to you recently." I finally said "But that's just how I am sometimes ." - I didn't know what else I could add.  
  
"There's nothing I would deny you, Violett, you know that" - he said, looking at my reflection in the mirror.  
  
"Cal, tell me something…"- I put the hair- brush away and turned around to face him  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Do you love me?" - I asked simply and immediately saw that this was the last thing he expected to hear.  
  
After a moment he realised that I really meant the question. He looked at me seriously.  
  
"I almost lost you tonight, Violett. …And it made me realize how much you mean to me"  
  
After a beat, he added:  
  
"I do love you"  
  
- I knew that it didn't come easy. Caledon Hockley wasn't used to expressing his feelings. No one ever taught him how to do it. But it didn't mean that he couldn't feel at all, or that his feelings weren't true.  
  
I knew then, that he really did love me. And Rose, for that matter.  
  
"And that is all I will ever need from you. Not your money, not jewellery. Only your love. You." - I came up to him and put my hands on his chest. His heart was pounding.  
  
Suddenly he kissed me -hungrily, impatiently, like a man desperately needing love.  
  
Just between the kisses I gasped out the words that I knew he deserved and wanted to hear, the words I felt:  
  
"I love you "  
  
When we stopped kissing I looked at him seriously and said:  
  
"Make love to me, Cal. I don't want to wait any longer."  
  
  
  
He just kissed me fiercely again.  
  
I started unbuttoning his shirt. He carried me to the bed and untied the strings of my nightgown. I felt his welcome burden on my body. We gradually got rid of all the parts of our wardrobe, taking our time, getting to know each other's bodies. His hands and lips were everywhere, kissing and touching every inch of my skin. Time stopped. There was nothing but us and our passion. The ship cut through the waves of the ocean, carrying us to our destiny and I knew that no matter what happened next, this night would stay with me forever.  
  
Then I fell asleep, safe in his strong, muscular arms, feeling complete for the first time in my life and knowing that I had just given Cal all he really needed in his life - true love.  
  
We'll stay forever this way  
  
You are safe in my heart  
  
And my heart will go on and on…  
  
  
  
**********  
  
  
  
When I woke up, there was no Cal, no bed, no ship of dreams. I was sitting at the mahogany desk at my aunt's study, my neck and back aching from the uncomfortable position. It was dawning. Rain pounded against the old windows, as if it wanted to wash the night away.  
  
Everything was over.  
  
I couldn't believe this. So it was only a dream? But how? I felt, I lived every second of it…My body was stil warm from his touch, my lips ached from the bruising kisses…  
  
Could life really be so cruel, that your dreams come true only when you're asleep?  
  
Suddenly, I spotted something shiny on the floor beside the desk. At first I thought it was just a hallucination, but then I realized it was not. I quickly got down on my knees and lifted it.  
  
For a moment I stood in silence, staring in shock at the object I was holding. The soft light from the lamp glistened in the mesmerizing blue stone, caressing my eyes with thousands of inner reflections.  
  
Pressing it to my chest, I came up to the window and looked at the sky.  
  
Watching the magnificent game of yellow-red colors softly reflected in the drops of rain accompanying sunrise, I smiled to myself.  
  
Nothing was over. It was only the beginning.  
  
  
  
Hush, now  
  
I see a light in the sky  
  
Oh, it's almost blinding me  
  
I can't believe  
  
I've been touched by an angel with love  
  
Let the rain fall down and wash away my tears  
  
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears  
  
Let it shatter the walls for a new sun  
  
A new day has come  
  
  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*  
  
  
  
  
  
Author's Note 2 :  
  
Ok, I don't care if someone says it's too cheesy. If Jack can have hundreds of harlequin-stories, than so can Cal!!!!!  
  
I know some peope will get pissed at me for deleting Rose from the scene. I did it because I know there's no way in hell she would have acted the way I have in this story. So, let her stay with her beloved artist and leave Cal all to me (moahahahahahaaaa!!!!!)  
  
Everytime I watch the scene with the necklace and read its script, I want to scream. The girl is colder than an iceberg…(Well, nobody's perfect, huh?) I wouldn't be able to resist SUCH man!  
  
I'm pretty sure that after reading this some of you will want to electrocute me, stab me, shoot me, chop me into pieces, but hell - can't I have some dream-coming true at least in fanfiction? Everybody deserves it!  
  
A question - anyone knows what song was the musical box playing in that scene?You'll make my day if you answer.  
  
And now this REALLY IMPORTANT THING :  
  
I am upset, pissed, angry, furious, MAD at the absolute lack of Cal fanfiction!!!!!!!  
  
There are a few great stories, for example the wonderful "Flood of Sunshine" and Redemption"  
  
( you authors are geniuses), but not enough!!!  
  
Everytime I enter FF net and see that there are 10 more Titanic stories and all of them Jack-Rose, I start to cry. Have all Cal's fans ceased to exist???????????????????!!!!  
  
Guys, I know you are there, so please, show everybody that you care - WRITE !!!!!!  
  
I'm sure you have wonderful ideas, some of them hundred times better than mine, and you keep them hidden.  
  
So, to encourage you and to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Titanic's virgin voyage, I announce a Great Competition for a Cal Story. It starts on 10th of April 2002 and you can post stories till Monday, 22nd of April 2002.  
  
Main rule - Cal as the main character and no male/male slash.  
  
I will choose the three I like most, but I know that all of them are gonna be great (I'm not an expert, after all). For the winners I will write a Titanic story with the characters they want - (but no male/male or female/female - I have nothing against such fics, I just have NO idea how to write them). Well, I guess the prize is worth fighting for, isn't it?  
  
So- In the name of the Ship of Dreams and Caledon Hockley - FANS, SHOW THEM THAT YOU CARE!!!!!!  
  
Are you brave enough to take the challenge??? Inform me in the reviews or e- mails if you decide to participate. The winners will be informed by e-mail. Let the show begin! ^_^ 


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